


The Devil Works Hard, But School Works Harder

by 44Noxwell



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Ableism, Gen, High School AU, Human AU, Misgendering, Nonbinary Smoky, also spinel adhd thank u v much, autistic smoky quartz, bc its already canon and u should be using they/them for them anyways, bc..i said so, jasper almost kinda says a slur, someone give this poor kid a break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:07:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24515101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/44Noxwell/pseuds/44Noxwell
Summary: School was a source of complicated emotions for Smoky. Sure, their friends were there, sure some classes could be a little fun sometimes, but it was a heavy imbalance. The noise, the food, the workload, and of course-
Relationships: Blue Diamond/Yellow Diamond (Steven Universe), Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	The Devil Works Hard, But School Works Harder

“Are you listening to me?”

School was a source of complicated emotions for Smoky. Sure, their friends were there, sure some classes could be a little fun sometimes, but it was a heavy imbalance. The noise, the food, the workload, and of course-

“Mx. Quartz! Give me that thing right now!” 

Smoky perked up at the sound of their name being called, and looked up at their teacher, Mrs. Yellow, staring them down. The spinner in their hand slowed down to a crawl until the faint whir stopped and the movement ended. Mrs. Yellow’s hand was extended close to Smoky’s face, and she tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for them to hand it over. Smoky’s body shuddered under the pressure as they shakily held the spinner out, which Mrs. Yellow snatched violently out of their hand.

“Now then,” Yellow shoved the spinner into the bottom drawer of her desk, 

“I hope you’re ready to actually pay attention to what I’m teaching you. So many children around the world would kill to get your seat in this classroom, so I expect you to take advantage of the position you are in right now. Do I make myself clear?”

They felt the weight of their classmate’s stares around them, and their hands instinctively balled up into fists, nails digging into their palms. They nodded hesitantly as they lowered their gaze to their lap. Yellow turned away with a huff and returned to the whiteboard.

Any semblance of attention span Smoky had before completely crumbled as the situation set in their mind. That horrible feeling started to return, and it felt as if a void had set in their stomach. They could feel the cooling sweat on their neck and the familiar sting of tears in their eyes. The absence of their favorite spinner, or even anything really, in their hand was almost too much to bear.

Smoky spared a passing glance around the classroom, trying to breathe normally as the ambient noise of the class drilled into their skull. Melting down in front of all of their classmates was the last thing they wanted to happen. They stuck their hand into their hoodie pocket to grab hold of their yoyo, running their thumb over the familiar texture of the design on the plastic and the smooth string. Slowly their nerves calmed down, even if it was only slightly.

It was going to be a very long day.  
\--

The hallways were always an uncomfortable exercise in misery for the day, only alleviated by greetings from their friends.

“Hey, Smoky! Did you happen to catch the homework from last class?” Smoky jumped in place at the sudden noise from behind them, but a quick turn around revealed it was only Spinel, bouncing as she walked by their side.

“Oh, uh…” They thought back to the last few moments of class, of which they absorbed no information. The only thing they could focus on was holding back tears and trying to restrain the grief of their fallen spinner.

“No, sorry I….wasn’t paying attention.” Smoky looked down at their feet solemnly as they said the last part. 

It wasn’t like they weren’t trying. Smoky did everything they could in terms of class. It just never seemed to work out quite the way they hoped. They were lucky to even be passing most of their classes. The depressing thought started to make their shoulders hurt, and they quickly rubbed the palms of their hands onto the soft hoodie they were wearing. 

“N’awwww, that’s okay! I probably wasn’t gonna do it anyway! Hey tell me, ya ever notice how like /everyone/ here’s named after crystals?” They opened their mouth to respond, when they caught a glimpse of Mrs. Yellow in the hallway, laughing at something Mrs. Blue had said.

“I’m just sayin’, at first I thought it was just a coincidence but I mean it’s like, /everyone/. Well, Steven and Connie aren’t, but they’re from outta town anyway. What time’s B lunch again?” 

Spinel continued talking a mile a minute, zoning out completely, not noticing until she ran into Smoky’s back.

“Hey! Watch where ya...goin…” Spinel followed Smoky’s gaze to Blue and Yellow, and her face immediately lit up.

“Mom! Momma! Hey, wait up!” 

Spinel sped up far faster than Smoky had even thought humanly possible, and they quickly forced their feet onto the ground to balance themselves. Accidental tripping was an ever-looming threat when talking to Spinel, no matter where they were. 

A grimace fell onto Smoky’s face as they saw their friend run up to Mrs. and Mrs. Diamond, launching herself into Blue’s arms. She giggled loudly as she wrapped her arms around Blue’s shoulders. 

“Spinel, sweetie,” she spoke softly, “Remember, at school, it’s ‘Mrs. Blue’, alright?” Spinel rolled her eyes and planted her feet back on the floor with a small squeak. Smoky quickened their pace to catch up with their friend, averting their gaze from Yellow’s face, but they didn’t need to look up to feel her stare.

“Spinel, I hope you’re keeping up with your work like I asked. Smoky, I hope you’re keeping your priorities in order as well.” Yellow’s brow furrowed before her face relaxed.

“Now then, off to lunch you two.” Smoky shuddered painfully at the feeling of a firm pat on the shoulder, then looked up to already see Spinel a good six feet in front of them. They heaved a sigh and pushed their first further into their hoodie pockets.  
\--

“What’s Yellow’s deal with the shoulder pats? And taking my shit. And uh, well just everything I guess.” Smoky tried to keep their breathing shallow to avoid the horrible, confusing scents of school lunch.

“Aw I don’t know, I think her shoulder pats are nice!” Spinel wrapped her arms around herself and hummed lightly.

Smoky’s temper was mounting slowly. Of course, Spinel loved her moms, that wasn’t the problem. They just wished someone would listen to them and even remotely try to understand what they meant. Sure, they weren’t any stranger to being misunderstood, but it stung more every time it happened. People meant well, of course, but it only ever felt like what they said went in one ear and out the other. 

When they went to Ms. White, the guidance counselor, all they got was an ‘aw I’m sorry :/!’ and a pamphlet on ABA therapies in the area. They tried to explain to Yellow, but all she did was snatch their stim toys right from their hands, with no promise on whether or not she would give them back. Blue seemed to try, but it wasn’t like she made much of a difference. Now after going to Spinel, all they got in return was a ramble about how good Yellow’s hugs were. Smoky winced imagining the feeling of being hugged, especially if it involved Mrs. Yellow. 

It went without saying that school was not built for them in any sense of the word. The students were so loud, the teachers were so loud, and there were still quite a few people who Smoky theorized were calling them a girl on purpose. The assignments were confusing at best and impossible for them at worst. They’d lost their earplugs in the hallway a couple of weeks ago, and it was everything they could do to keep from just going ballistic at some point. They nodded at what Spinel said and sighed slowly. Even if everything else in the world was out to get them, there was still one earthly comfort Smoky could look to.

They dipped their hand into their pocket and pulled out a medium-sized yoyo the color of coffee. 

“Ooh, the yoyo!” Spinel smiled widely as her hands shook a little. “Do a trick, do a trick!”

Smoky smirked and wrapped the string around their fingers a couple of times in different directions until the strings formed a star symbol across their hand. Spinel clapped with a snicker.

“Ya like that one, huh? Get a load of this!” The strings changed formation almost instantly, Smoky’s fingers dexterously rearranging it until the yoyo was caught in the middle of it as it went slowly up and down with their movements. 

“I call this one the elevator!” 

“Oh cool! Hi Smoky!” They looked up to see Steven and Connie were now standing on one side of their small lunch table, waiting to see more tricks. Next to them, Amethyst sauntered over, using Spinel’s pigtails as an armrest. 

“Yeah, yoyo master, show us the goods.”

Smoky jumped a little at the sudden small crowd but still gave a friendly smile.

“Hey, guys! Okay uh- this one is called ‘rock the baby’!” Once again, their fingers moved around swiftly, changing the position of the yoyo to a chorus of ‘ooh’s and ‘ah’s.

“This one is called ‘shark attack’!”

“This one is called the ‘scam artist’!”

“This one’s ‘panic attack at 3 am!’” The more they did, the more students crowded around the table. The fragile ego they had was starting to inflate, along with their yoyo skills, making tricks up on the spot to keep the energy alive. Appreciation was hard to come by for them, even more so was renown. Some tricks even stuttered because of the giddy fluttering of Smoky’s hands. Their grin was wide as they reached back into their mind to find the maneuvers that would impress best. 

“And /this/ one is ‘cry for hel-!” 

“Augh!...You. 

It had all happened so fast. Was it an ambitious trick? Sure. Did it involve the yoyo flying all over the place? Perhaps. Was Jasper, one of the most feared students in the school a new arrival to the crowd at the small table? Possibly so. Did the yoyo go flying and hit Jasper in the nose?..Yeah, it did. Jasper domineeringly stood over the table, gripping Smoky’s yoyo in her hand with a deathly strength. In a similar fashion, Smoky’s heart also felt as if it was trapped in her iron grip. 

“Uh...sorry ‘bout that. Can I have that back?”

Jasper’s glare was piercing. Her grip didn’t loosen, and she quirked her mouth up into a wicked grin. As the sound of authoritative footsteps approached, Smoky could already feel their time was up. 

“What on earth is going on over here?” Yellow shouted, attracting the attention of every student in the lunchroom. 

“Yellow, please, give them a second.” Blue put a hand on Yellow’s arm, reminding her wife of Smoky’s issues with stressful situations. Yellow ignored her and turned her attention to Jasper.

“/She/ just launched her little baby toy into my face,” Jasper said as a small amount of blood dripped from her nostril. She wiped it off on her sleeve, her stare never-ending. Smoky’s stomach sank.

“S-Smoky’s not a she!” Connie stood up from where she was sitting, soon followed by Steven. Jasper’s smug air would not be wiped from her face. Yellow made no effort to correct Jasper’s remark. 

Jasper dropped the yoyo into Yellow’s hand, which closed around the toy and gripped it so tightly she may have broken it.

“S-stop! You’re gonna hurt i- b-break it!” Jasper broke out into uproarious laughter. 

“/Hurt/ your toy? God, you’re such a ret-”

“Jasper! You know language like that is not permitted here!”

Blue whisper-shouted as she stepped past Yellow to look down at her. She growled low and rolled her eyes. Tears were stinging in the corner of Smoky’s eyes and their brain couldn’t even decide on what to cry about. 

“Fine. Chin up, runt. Maybe you’ll find another in the thrift store bargain bin.” 

Jasper’s hair whipped around as she walked away, and the tears spilled from Smoky’s eyes, despite their best efforts to keep them inside. Prickles of pain shot through their shoulders at the thought of what was going to happen to their yoyo. 

“Y-Yellow, can Smoky have their yoyo back?” Connie asked shakily.

“No way, you’re lucky I don’t give you a suspension young la- you! Detention, tomorrow, 3 o’clock sharp! I don’t know why I’ve been going so easy on you, it’s clear you don’t intend to be a good student. What are you kids looking at?”

The feeling of having the entire student body’s eyes on them was overwhelming. As was the feeling of the curls of their hair brushing their cheeks, the clothes on their back, their shoes, and the tears streaming down their face. Smoky glanced around and even meeting one student’s eyes sent spikes of pain through their head and soon after the rest of their body. 

Spinel looked protectively at her friend and stood up next to Blue.

“Momma! Mom can’t do that! Right?” Blue looked sadly at the tiles of the floor.

“Well…the toy did injure another student…”

“Momma!”

“Ngh...b-bye!” 

Just like that, Smoky had run off to the empty corridors of the school, ignoring their friends pleads for their return. It was almost as if they couldn’t stop running, because their legs wouldn’t let them. Soon, they had made it to the third floor, a place rarely occupied by teachers or students, save for a few janitors or students who couldn’t keep it in their pants. Finally, their feet stopped moving and they slowly sank down into a quiet corner away from the stairs, arms hugging their knees. The faint sounds of the lunchroom and classes below were still there, but their nerves had let up ever so slightly.

Almost instinctively, Smoky’s hand went into their pocket to grab their comfort object of a yoyo but found nothing but air and lint.

“Shit.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry I haven't posted in a really long time! I know I have a bad track record with finishing chapter fics but!! It's summer so I'm trying with this one.


End file.
